The movement of containerized cargo through Latin American and Caribbean ports grew 1.7 percent during 2015, according to Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) ranking of container port throughput.

ECLAC said these figures confirm two trends observed during the last years in the region – the slowdown of foreign trade shown by container terminals and great heterogeneity of the growth rates inside the region.

Regional average of 1.7 percent container throughput growth is still higher than the rates recorded in 2014 (0.8 percent) and 2013 (0.7 percent), however, the recovery from this severe downturn is needed when compared to 2012 and the rates of 5.9 percent, according to ECLAC.

Moreover, the slow dynamism of 2015 was determined mainly by the fall in the port activity of five countries – Brazil, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.

The total volume of activity in 2015 was approx. 48 million TEU, with the first 20 ports handling a total of 32.5 million TEU, what is 67.7 percent of the total cargo handled this year.

At an individual level, the ports that registered the best performance during 2015 were: